Kitchen renovation

Long post - lots of photos, and me showing off just a tiny bit.

Ahh, the kitchen is the heart of the home.  And I used to hate mine. 

It took 10 years of planning and preparing, and 8 weeks to complete a renovation.  

It might take another 10 years to pay for it!

Say goodbye to a dash of collapse, dysfunction and leakage.  B'Bye 90's golden oak.

Considerable fretting ensues, but the decision is made to remove the corner pantry.  These things hide a multitude of kitchen sins, but it turns out to be the best decision ever.

While the whole house is in such dusty disarray, let's remove several half/pony walls, move the lounge to a different room and create new dining room.  Let's create a new fireplace.  Oh, and let's steal a funky design from a show home!

Be sure to choose a talented kitchen designer who thinks like you do.  Who thinks through the placement of everything - where you turn, where you'll stand, where you will store.

Ask the designer to try and create a kitchen island in a really awkward angled room.  
"I would like a zig-zag, please?"

Template for a shit-load of granite.

Replace all flooring on the main floor.  Paint the stairs. Add to half walls in the entrance/lounge area and take them up to the ceiling.  Add wiring for new wall lights and for a wall-mounted tv.

Eat dust for 8 weeks.  Mmmm, yummy.

And then delight in the final new product.

Hello light and airy, the longest island ever, and add colourful LED lights (with 12 settings!) for the every-occasion party look.

Finally, bankrupt oneself with gorgeous new dining set.

At last - done!  And for about 15 minutes on a random Wednesday, my house looks like something out of a glossy magazine and I am smug and delighted.

Then reality bites.  We carry on living here, like a real family, and mess and untidiness ensues, but the functionality is fabulous.